1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention are systems and methods for detecting touch gestures in response to the output of one or more microphones. In a class of embodiments, the invention is a touch gesture detection system including a device including at least one microphone, and a processor coupled and configured to process the output of each microphone to identify at least one touch gesture (a gesture, by a user of the device, which is or includes a touch by the user on the device).
2. Background of the Invention
Throughout this disclosure, including in the claims, the expression performing an operation “on” signals or data (e.g., filtering, scaling, or transforming the signals or data) is used in a broad sense to denote performing the operation directly on the signals or data, or on processed versions of the signals or data (e.g., on versions of the signals that have undergone preliminary filtering prior to performance of the operation thereon).
Throughout this disclosure including in the claims, the expression “system” is used in a broad sense to denote a device, system, or subsystem. For example, a subsystem that implements a decoder may be referred to as a decoder system, and a system including such a subsystem (e.g., a system that generates X output signals in response to multiple inputs, in which the subsystem generates M of the inputs and the other X-M inputs are received from an external source) may also be referred to as a decoder system.
Throughout this disclosure, “speaker” and “loudspeaker” are used synonymously to denote any sound-emitting transducer.
Throughout this disclosure including in the claims, “microphone” denotes any transducer that generates an electrical signal in response to acoustic input. The acoustic input may be an acoustic signal including longitudinal pressure wave energy and/or shear wave energy (e.g., a surface acoustic wave) that is incident at the microphone, and/or mechanical vibration of the microphone or an object to which the microphone is mounted. For example, a microphone (mounted to a frame) might generate an output signal (an electrical signal) in response to exertion of force (e.g., a touch) to the microphone or frame which causes the microphone to vibrate, or in response to incidence at the microphone of a pressure wave which has propagated through the air to the microphone, or in response to incidence at the microphone of a surface acoustic wave which has propagated via the frame to the microphone.
Throughout this disclosure including in the claims, the expression “touch gesture” denotes a gesture by a user of a device, which is or includes a touch (e.g., a tap, or slide, or other touch) by the user on the device.
Throughout this disclosure including in the claims, the expression “tap gesture” (or “tap”) denotes a touch gesture which has a fixed location in space, and a duration in time. The location at which the user exerts a tap and optionally also the duration of the tap may be identified in some embodiments of the present invention.
Throughout this disclosure including in the claims, the expression “dynamic gesture” (or “non-tap” gesture) denotes a touch gesture which is not a tap gesture, and which has a trajectory (a path in space as a function of time) and a duration in time. The trajectory (or a projection of the trajectory on a surface), and optionally also the duration, of a dynamic gesture may be identified in some embodiments of the present invention.
Throughout this disclosure including in the claims, the term “processor” is used in a broad sense to denote a system or device programmable or otherwise configurable (e.g., with software or firmware) to perform operations on data (e.g., video or other image data). Examples of processors include a field-programmable gate array (or other configurable integrated circuit or chip set), a digital signal processor programmed and/or otherwise configured to perform pipelined processing on audio or other sound data, a programmable general purpose processor or computer, and a programmable microprocessor chip or chip set.
Many conventional devices include transducers that allow touch input by a user (e.g., input determined by the position and contact of the user's hand and/or finger). Examples of such devices include those with thin film conductance transducers, capacitive touch screens, capacitive touch transducers, tracking devices (e.g., computer mice), contact arrays, and optical (or visual) transducers. Touch has become an expected mode of device operation.
For many simple devices (e.g., a BlueTooth headset), the required user control interface is very simple in the sense that it must implement only a small number of commands (e.g., power and volume control). Although control of many devices could be elegantly achieved with a proximity or mechanical touch interface (for example a capacitive proximity sensor), the additional cost of a touch sensor can be unwelcome. In typical embodiments of the present invention, microphones already present in a headset (or other device) for use in detecting ambient sound (e.g., voice utterences by a user and/or music) are also used for detecting touch gestures on the device.